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The first few weeks of classes went by quickly. Harry was happy to say he didn't have any problems with any of his classes. Professor Quirrell watched him with a manic gleam in his eye and Professor Snape always looked at him with contempt but neither professor really bothered Harry. He could ignore a few weird professors. It was Professor Dumbledore who bothered Harry.
The man was always making suggestions to Harry. First, he'd caught Harry in the hallway during his first day of classes and suggested that Harry ask for a resorting.
"Harry, my dear boy," said the Headmaster. Harry and his friends turned to look at the Headmaster.
"Good day, Headmaster," said Harry. "Can I help you with something?"
"Yes, my boy," the Headmaster said again, irritating Harry. He wasn't a little boy. "Come over here for a moment."
Harry glanced at his friends and his brother and went over to the Headmaster.
"Yes, sir?" Harry asked, when he was standing off to the side with the elderly man.
"Do you really think it is wise that you end up in Ravenclaw house? Some people consider that house dark. It's almost as dark as Slytherin house," said the Headmaster chidingly. "You have a reputation to uphold as a bastion of the light, after all."
Harry tried to school his features into blankness. "I don't know what you mean, Headmaster. I read in Hogwarts: A History, that the sorting hat is the decider of what house a student will be placed in."
"Yes, my boy, but the hat can be influenced. You must ask the hat to place you in Gryffindor. It's where your parents would have wanted you to be," Dumbledore said, solemnly. Harry was furious. He tried to keep his cool.
Professor Flitwick saw the byplay and walked over.
"Is something wrong, Headmaster?" asked the jovial professor. "I hope Mr. Potter hasn't been caught out misbehaving already?"
"No, no, Filius. We were just having a friendly chat, weren't we, Harry?" the Headmaster lied, expecting the boy to just agree.
"The Headmaster told me I should ask to be resorted. He said my parents would have wanted me in Gryffindor!" said Harry. The Headmaster winced and looked down at Filius. Filius looked furious.
"What's this? Mr. Potter, you head on to breakfast. I'll speak with the Headmaster about this on your behalf. I wouldn't worry about a resorting, unless you want one?" Filius asked.
Harry shook his head, decisively. "No. I like being in Ravenclaw house, with all my friends," the Headmaster shot the other children a brief nasty look.
Harry and his friends continued on to class but the Headmaster didn't stop there. He called Harry up to his office after dinner one night.
Harry had answered the summons but he'd also sent Daphne and Hermione to tell Professor Flitwick he'd been called to the Headmaster's office. The student handbook said that all students were required to have their head of house or parent or guardian present when they were called into the Headmaster's office. Harry felt very uncomfortable to be there alone. That is, until Professor Snape and Ron Weasley, of all people walked into the room.
"Harry, my boy. I noticed that you might be making friends with the wrong sort. I understand your cousin," Harry interrupted.
"My brother."
"I'm sorry?" asked the Headmaster.
"I said Dudley is my brother. We share a father, Vernon Dursley. We are brothers," Harry explained, slowly.
The Headmaster scoffed. "Vernon Dursley is your uncle Harry, and while I'm sure that you love him very much, your father was James Potter. A stalwart supporter of the light. He was a good soldier who did not question orders," reminisced Dumbledore. Harry glared at the man. How dare he call his father, a Lord, a mere soldier.
"Lord James Potter was my father and he gave his life to save me. I recognize that and so does magic. However, he and my mother wanted me to be raised by my uncle. To have a family of my own. I've read their wills. I know this for a fact. Vernon Dursley is as much my father as if he had given birth to me by blood. He is my father and will remain my father. Just as Dudley is my brother and will remain my brother," Harry said, stubbornly.
Dumbledore gave Harry a sour look but Harry didn't relent.
"You arrogant brat. How dare you speak to the headmaster that way," said the enraged Potions Master. "You're just like your father. Entitled and overprivileged. That will be 50 points from Ravenclaw and a week of detention," said Severus.
"I think not," said an equally enraged Filius who had been listening quietly at the door. No one had noticed he'd entered due to his small size. "What is going on here? Why is Mr. Potter's parentage being questioned and what does Mr. Weasley have to do with it?" Filius bit out.
The Headmaster looked uncomfortable but Snape just continued to glare at Harry.
"Harry's parentage isn't being questioned," said Dumbledore.
"That's not what it sounded like to me. I'll beg you to remember his name is Mr. Potter. He is due respect, as are you Headmaster. Now, in what way did Mr. Potter so grievously disrespect you that he deserves a week worth of detentions and a 50-point deduction?"
No one answered. "I'll have my answers, thank you very much," thundered Filius.
Dumbledore spoke. "Severus may have been … a little hasty in his defense of myself. Perhaps we can leave one night of detentions and a 10-point deduction in place," suggested the Headmaster. Filius looked furious.
"I think not. The boy did nothing more than respectfully state the truth, from what I saw. I'll not have it," said Filius. Harry was grateful for the man's presence.
"I think that would be fair," said the Headmaster. "We'll just let it slide with a warning this time, Harry."
"Special treatment," muttered Snape. Harry glared at the man.
"Please explain why Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley are present," demanded Filius. "Has there been an incident?"
"No, nothing like that," said Dumbledore. "I just wanted Harry to have the chance to make Mr. Weasley's acquaintance. The Weasleys have offered to allow Harry to spend the summer with them next year and I think the boy should go. It would be good for him to have some solid light side mentors in his life. He is surrounded by unstable and dark influences at this time," said the Headmaster, pretty as you please.
Harry's mouth dropped open. "What dark and unstable influences?"
"Sirius Black, for example. The Greengrasses, Davises, and Zabinis, for a start. They're all dark and Sirius is unstable, always has been," declared Dumbledore.
"That is enough," said Filius coldly. "Sirius Black is an innocent and good man. The children Harry finds himself friends with are delightful. Their families are gray, not dark. It is a time-honored option amongst the factions. Even if they were dark, that would not make them evil."
Ron Weasley burst from his seat. "I knew it! Ravenclaw is dark. They're all dark, including you, Potter," said Weasley
"Mr. Weasley!" chided Professor Flitwick. "That is enough. Mr. Potter, you can go. If for some unknown reason you decide to take the Weasleys up on their offer for a visit, you can let Mr. Weasley know at some later time. You are dismissed."
"For the record, I have no intention of spending any time with Ronald Weasley unless absolutely required to do so," said Harry, venomously. He turned and walked out the door.
Harry stomped back to his dorms, in a right funk about it all.
"What's wrong?" asked Dudley as he entered his dorm room and found most of his friends hanging around.
"Dumbledore! He just had the nerve to tell me that you and father aren't really my family! He dared call my birth father a mere soldier for the light! Acted like my birth father and my mother died for the light side instead of for me!
"What? That arsehole," said Dudley.
"I want to talk to father," said Harry. It wasn't a Sunday but Harry decided to try. Their father was most likely at home at this time of night.
Harry took out his mirror and called Sirius. After he explained why he was upset and listened to Sirius castigate the Headmaster for a while, he finally called Harry's father.
"Hello, Dursley residence," answered the phone.
"Papa?" Harry said.
"What's wrong? Harry? Is that you?" Vernon asked, concerned.
Harry spilled the whole sorry tale of the Headmaster harassing him while his friends listened in. Vernon was angry.
"How dare that administrator harass you! He's nothing but the minder of a bunch of children. You're a lord! For him to dare question you like that about your parentage is a hostile act. I'll be writing him a letter, post haste! If he does it again, I'll write to the school governors! You just wait and see. You'll not be going to any Weasel house this summer. We've got a family holiday and your studies already planned! No. I'll not have it!" Vernon shouted, his face turning purple. Harry was comforted by the sound. When his papa made that kind of sound, people stopped being mean to him or faced their peril.
Sure enough, the Headmaster got two howlers the next day, one the letter from Vernon Dursley copied word for word screeching in Sirius Black's voice. The other was from Andromeda Tonks threatening what would happen if the Headmaster ever again made aspersions against Harry's birth.
Harry couldn't help but gloat a bit, especially since his name was never actually used in either howler. The Headmaster would know who it was in relation to but the students wouldn't.
Harry was so caught up in basking in the joy of his father stepping in and take care of the situation for him that he almost missed the bird that flew over his head and dropped a paper on top of his plate.
Harry looked down at the paper in shock. The headline screamed, "PETER PETTIGREW CAPTURED. ILLEGAL ANIMAGUS FOUND ON HOGWARTS TRAIN!"
"On September 1, 1991, an anonymous package was delivered to none other than Allister "Mad-Eye" Moody. The package was an extra-large Hogwarts potions vial. As all our parents know, the Hogwarts potions vials are spelled unbreakable. Peter Pettigrew, in his rat Animagus form, was found shoved inside one such unbreakable vial. He appeared along with a note, stating that a student on the Hogwarts Express found the rat and felt something was wrong about it. So, they trapped it and sent it along to the DMLE. Mad-Eye just happened to be working the owl desk when the rat came along.
"It was just a quick hominem revelio later and Bob's your uncle. We've caught ourselves a supposedly dead hero," said an inside ministry source.
But hero he is not! A quick bit of questioning Pettigrew under veritaserum about the crime of faking his own death and a dastardly truth emerged. Just as had been claimed by Lord Sirius Black all those years ago, Peter Pettigrew was the Potters' secret keeper that fateful night in Godric's Hollow (see the back page for a coupon to enter the Potter Memorial Historical Site and Museum for 20% off!).
"He admitted everything. To betraying the Potters, to being a Death Eater, to killing all those Muggles. Everything. He even had You-Know-Who's wand on him, he did," said a valued ministry employee.
Peter Pettigrew's trial is expected to take place next month. We here at the Prophet can only hope justice is served."
Harry remembered the rat they'd caught and sent along on the train. Harry looked up and caught Draco's eye. They both looked rather grim and nodded to one another. Harry wouldn't forget the help the other boy played in capturing his parents' betrayer.
"Harry! Did you see?" cried Dudley as he saw the headline. "Is that the rat that we caught on the train?" he whispered to his friend-group.
"It is. We sent it along in a potions vial, remember?" Harry reminded them. Harry's post owl seemed to sense his thoughts of her. She drifted down and landed on his shoulder, nuzzling his head.
"It's alright girl. Thank you for taking him in to the DMLE," said Harry, nuzzling the bird right back.
"Harry, the Headmaster," whispered Daphne. The Headmaster was staring straight at Harry with an annoyed look on his face.
"And Quirrell," said Hermione, quietly. Quirrell was giving Harry a right nasty look. Harry didn't know what the man's problem was.
"All that's missing is Snape," said Harry.
"Where is Snape?" asked Neville. Neville was always very aware of the intimidating man when he was in the room. Neville knew Snape was a Death Eater whether the rumors he was a spy were true or not.
"I heard he was in the infirmary. Some kind of dog bite," said Tracy, who always knew the gossip.
"Huh, I wonder if Fang bit him?" asked Blaise, thinking of Hagrid's huge dog.
"Dunno," answered Tracy. "No one said."
The kids went back to eating their breakfast and carrying on with their day.
The weeks passed quickly and before they knew it, it was Halloween. Harry and Dudley had always loved the holiday. It was one of the few holidays where Betsy would let them just pig out on sweets and candy. Harry also loved the costumes and dressing up but he guessed they wouldn't be doing that at Hogwarts.
Harry dressed up nicely for the feast, in the robes that displayed all of Harry's house crests. So did all of his friends. Harry noticed how nice they looked and took out his camera from home and had one of the other students take a picture of Harry with all his friends. He knew the development of the film was what made photographs magical. He promised to find a place that could make both a muggle and magical copy of his photos. He'd want to be able to share with his father, after all.
The group began to make their way towards the feast when they heard an argument up ahead.
"It's no wonder he hasn't got any friends. He's poor and has poor manners, too. I've never seen someone so rude and obnoxious," said an enraged Lavender Brown. Harry saw Ron Weasley heading off in the other direction, tears streaking down his face.
"I think that truth hit a little close to home," said Blaise, nudging his head in Weasley's direction. They followed the fleeing boy down the stairs and saw him slink away into a toilet on the first floor.
"No one deserves to be treated like that," said Hermione. The rest of the group agreed.
"We should tell someone," said Harry.
"Nah, mate. Let him work it out on his own. No bloke wants someone there watching him when he's caught in his feelings," said Dudley. Harry guessed that was true. The friends sat at the end of the table near the Professors. Harry was never comfortable when he was too near the Headmaster. He had reason to be concerned.
The Headmaster took one look at Harry's robes and stood in a flap. He hurried down and said in way too loud of a voice, "See here. You are not to wear robes with any markings other than those for your house. Go get changed and get back here before the feast starts. Now!"
Several other students wearing robes displaying their house affiliations looked down at themselves. Everyone wondered why the Headmaster seemed to be speaking to Harry Potter, alone.
"How did you even find out about… nevermind. Just go get changed and hurry back. I'm very disappointed in you, Harry," said the Headmaster.
Professor Flitwick had seen the Headmaster headed for Harry and hurried to catch up. "What is the meaning of this? I seem to be asking you that a lot lately, Headmaster," said Filius.
Dumbledore puffed up and looked down at the diminutive professor. "None of your concern, Professor Flitwick. This is between myself and Harry, here."
"Mr. Potter. I seem to be reminding you of that often lately as well. His name is Mr. Potter. He is due respect, as are you. Is he given leave to call you Albus?" Filius asked.
"Certainly not. That would be completely inappropriate," blustered Dumbledore.
"Yes, it most certainly is. Please refrain from doing so in the future. He should be addressed as Mr. Potter, as every other student is addressed as such. Now, what is the problem?" Filius asked. Just then, Professor McGonagall also arrived to see what the ruckus was.
Everyone stared at Dumbledore.
"It is inappropriate for Mr. Potter to wear robes with such affiliations on them. He should go back to his rooms and change," Dumbledore said, imperiously.
Everyone turned to look at Harry's house affiliations as displayed on his robes. McGonagall looked doubtful.
"Do you have proof of your affiliations with these houses?" she asked. The traditionally raised and older students all gasped. She looked chagrined but she didn't back down.
Harry reached into his mokeskin pouch and removed the papers he received form his inheritance test at Gringotts. He handed them to Professor Flitwick, who read them and handed them to Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore just looked angry.
"These seem to be in order," said Professor McGonagall in surprise. She cast a verification spell on the documents. Harry's chest puffed up in indignation. People all over the hall started muttering in outrage. First, she questioned Harry's honor by questioning if he had the right to his house affiliations. Then, she questioned his honor further by testing the Gringotts documents for veracity. It was undone. One did not treat the heir to an Ancient and Noble House that way.
Harry's friends all stood and pulled their documents out of their pouches for examination.
"What are you doing?" asked Professor McGonagall. When she saw what they were holding out, she huffed. "That won't be necessary. It is not required to prove that you are a member of a house before you're allowed to wear a house affiliation."
"Unless your name is Harry Potter?" asked Filius scathingly. Professor McGonagall handed Harry's papers back to him. She didn't answer Filius' question.
"This is all in order. Mr. Potter has the right to the house affiliations he is wearing. Can we get on with the feast now?" she asked, huffily. The professors moved back to the house table. Just as the Headmaster moved to open the feast, the side door banged open. Professor Quirrell stumbled into the room and fell across the head table.
"Troll! In the dungeon! Thought you ought to know," he said. Then, Professor Quirrell promptly fainted across the head table. Students started talking in loud, panicked voices. The Headmaster set off his wand.
"Everyone, back to your common rooms. The feast will be served there," Dumbledore said in a booming voice. "Prefects, take the lead."
Everyone started moving for the exit to the Great Hall. As the group of friends headed up the stairs towards the tower, Harry suddenly remembered.
"Weasley! He's in the bathroom and doesn't know about the troll. We have to tell him!" said Harry. The friends didn't look so sure.
"Maybe we should just go tell a teacher," said Hermione.
"The troll's in the dungeon. We're almost to the first floor, come on. Let's just pop off and tell him," said Harry. The friend's agreed. They headed towards the boys' bathroom on the first floor.
When they arrived, it was just in time to see the troll entering the bathroom. They gasped as they heard Weasley scream. With nothing left for it, they ran inside the restroom to try to save Weasley's life.
"On three! Dudley, Hermione, Daphne, Stunners to the head! One, two, three!" Harry yelled as they entered the room. The four students who had all been trained by Remus Lupin followed the battle plan that Remus had drilled into them. Try to surround your opponent. Hit them with a stunner. Once they were down, make sure they'd stay down.
The four jets of red light hit the Troll right in the head. Dudley managed to hit the troll in the eye, while Harry had hit it solidly in the left ear, Daphne hit it in the right ear, and Hermione had hit it right in the snout. The Troll wavered for a few seconds and then fell down hard, smacking its head on the sinks as it fell. It didn't move again.
"Come on! Everyone out before it wakes up!" The friends all ran from the room. Harry had to stop and grab Weasley by the arm to pull him from the room. He was too scared stiff to move. The students ran away from the bathroom and up the stairs. When they got to the sixth floor corridor, they split off, with Weasley headed towards Gryffindor tower at a fast clip while the three friends walked quickly to the entrance to Ravenclaw tower. They luckily weren't the last ones to arrive.
They were a good halfway through dinner when Filius entered and sounded the all clear. Everyone finished up their candy and food in the common room. Filius joined them. It was a rousing party. It didn't change anything in Harry's relationship with Ron Weasley but saving their little brother's life earned him some friends in the twins.
They expressed their thanks one day right before Christmas.
"Harry, mate!"
"Wait up!" called the twin redhead terrors.
Harry turned and waited for them. He and Dudley were out walking the castle hallways, trying to find secret passageways.
"What can I do for you? I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Harry Potter. This is my brother, Dudley Dursley," Harry said, holding out his hand to shake. The twins shook his hand and Dudley's.
"Pleasure to meet you," said one twin.
"He's Fred and I'm George," said the other.
"Or am I Forge and he's Gred?" asked the other twin.
"Either way, we're both grateful to you and your friends for saving our annoying little brother," said the first twin.
"He's a git to be certain but he's our git," said the other twin.
"In thanks we'd like to share with you one of our best shortcuts. It leads from the Ravenclaw tower corridor all the way down to the corridor off the Great Hall. Ready?"
Harry and Dudley looked stunned.
"It was really no trouble at all. We couldn't leave your brother to rot with a Troll. He'd end up dead. No one deserves that," said Dudley.
"You might want to check in on him though. He doesn't seem to have any friends. His manners leave something to be desired. It's turning most people off to him," said Harry. He didn't want to be a prig but someone had to help the great lump of a boy. He obviously wasn't going to figure it out for himself.
The twins looked shocked. "Ronniekins isn't making any friends?"
"We'll definitely have to look into that," said the other twin.
The twins spent the afternoon teaching the two little Ravenclaws a few of their best shortcuts and tricks. They also played jokes and talked about pranking.
"Then, Padfoot turned Dudley's nose red, like Rudolph's from the movie!" Harry laughed.
"Yeah, I thought Moony would kill him. Papa was expected home any minute with guests!" Dudley laughed in return.
"Hold up!" said Fred. Maybe.
"Did you say Padfoot?" said George. Probably.
"And Moony?" they asked together.
"Yeah. Have you heard of them? If you have, then you've heard of the Marauders surely," said Harry.
"You know the Marauders?" asked the twins together in high pitched tones.
Harry and Dudley laughed. "My biological father was one. Prongs is James Potter. Padfoot is Sirius Black and Moony is Remus Lupin," said Harry.
"Who was Wormtail?" asked one of the twins.
Dudley and Harry stopped smiling. "He's the traitor. We don't speak of him," said Dudley.
The twins didn't say anything but they knew the traitor was Peter Pettigrew.
"Why the nicknames?" asked the other twin. They had moved around too much. Harry didn't know who was who anymore.
Harry and Dudley shrugged, shiftily. "Who knows? I'd guess to keep them from getting caught for all the pranks they pulled," said Harry.
The twins laughed. "Makes sense."
This led to a litany of tales from Harry and Dudley about stuff the Marauder's had done at school. Some of which the twins already knew from an unnamed source and some of which was news to them.
By the end of the night, Harry and Dudley had made two new friends in the Weasley twins.
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